By Jordan Long
The Oakland Raiders made a surprising move cutting punter Marquette King. King had been the punter for the Raiders the last 5 years. This saves the Raiders $2.9 million on the cap.
King has been one of the top punters in the NFL. Last season he had 69 punts with a 47.4 yard average, and a net average of 42.7, third in the entire league. King flipped the field position and forced opponents offense to start inside their own 20. King landed 28 punts inside the 20 and rarely landed in the end zone for touchbacks.
There are plenty of teams who could use King. One might be in their own division, the Denver Broncos. King is familiar punting in the Mile High City since he has kicked there once a year. Denver needs a punter who can kick the ball inside the 20 without having the ball bounce in the end zone. King would fill that void.
The problem is Denver already has a punter in Riley Dixon who is entering his 3rd NFL season. Last season he averaged 45.6 yards per punt, 40.2 net yards per punt with 23 landing inside the 20-yard line, not a big difference between him and King.
Denver may choose not to pursue King because of his contract. King as a veteran may want $1 to $2 million per season, way too much to pay a punter. Dixon’s contract will pay him $630,000. Dixon has more upside since he is younger.
The Broncos will decide what is best for the team at punter. If they feel King is the better option then release Dixon. At this point, the Broncos seem to have about the same type of punter as King and shouldn’t make the move.
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